ReleaseWire Connect

The federal judge managing the vaginal mesh lawsuits in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia, has scheduled a consolidated trial for 26 Ethicon vaginal mesh lawsuits that name Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon Inc. unit as defendant. Southern Med Law represents women in product liability lawsuits across the country and reports that U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin said the bladder mesh lawsuits selected were filed by 26 women from West Virginia who all had Ethicon's Gynecare TVT mesh implanted to treat stress urinary incontinence. The Gynecare complaints allege that the women suffered such injuries as mesh erosion, infection, scar tissue, organ perforation, chronic nerve damage, pain and urinary problems. Judge Goodwin said the cases had common issues of law and fact. The jury trial, scheduled for November 2, will focus only on the plaintiffs' identical claims of design defects with the TVT mesh, according to the order. (In Re: Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2327)

Morcellator cancer lawsuits contend laparoscopic power morcellators have the potential of spreading uterine cancer when used during a hysterectomy or myomectomy (removal of uterine fibroids) and hysterectomy cancer lawsuits continue to filed on behalf of women who have developed uterine cancer due to the morcellation device.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is inviting interested members of the public to present data, information or oral or written views on Essure permanent birth control device at the FDA's meeting on September 24th. Southern Med Law notes that after Essure lawsuit filings and complaints surrounding Essure, the FDA has called for a meeting of its Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Panel to seek expert scientific and clinical opinion on the Essure birth control implant after numerous reports of Essure side-effects including perforation of the uterus, pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy, and even fetal and adult deaths. The FDA has opened a docket so that anyone interested in speaking at the meeting can submit electronic or written comments prior to the event.

A conference will be held Monday to discuss 3M Bair Hugger lawsuits and post-operative infections sustained by hip and knee replacement patients from the Bair Hugger forced air warming blanket. Southern Med Law, an experienced law firm representing men and women in product liability lawsuits reports the warning blanket injury conference is geared to provide more information for a deeper understanding on how to proceed with 3M Bair Hugger lawsuits that purport 3M's Bair Hugger warming blankets have caused patients to develop prosthetic joint infections (PJI) following hip and knee implants after the Bair Hugger warming blanket disrupted the airflow in operating rooms and contaminate the sterile field in the rooms. This contaminated purportedly caused surgical patients to develop infections that required repeat surgeries replacement of their artificial joint and in some cases amputation. A strong connection has been shown between Bair Hugger and patients developing prosthetic joint infections (PJI) following hip and knee implants.

Morcellator Lawsuit News: While robotic surgeries are being used more frequently in both men and women in minimally invasive surgeries, a new study has found that more than 100 patients have died over the past 14 years after robotic surgeries. The attorneys at Southern Med Law are highly aware of the risks of robotic surgeries after they have represented men and women in robotic surgeries lawsuits and are currently representing numerous women in morcellator lawsuits who have developed uterine cancer and even death after robot assisted hysterectomies involving uterince morcellation.

As filings of testosterone treatment lawsuits involving such Low-T drugs as AndroGel, Androderm, Axiron and Testim continue to mount, the makers of AndroGel are seeking to have potential bellwether cases dismissed. The majority of the 2,000 low testosterone lawsuits pending in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois are filed against AbbVie and Abbott Laboratories and the first round of bellwether trials will only involve AndroGel lawsuits, court records show. AbbVie filed a motion on July 6 stating that 169 Plaintiffs Fact Sheets had missing information, such as names of prescribing physicians and dispensing pharmacies, and authorizations to allow AbbVie to collect additional medical records were not completed. AbbVie warned that if plaintiffs do not provide the information by the time of the bellwether hearing on August 14, AbbVie said in its motion that the Court should dismiss those Low-T cases with prejudice. Plaintiffs responded in a joint status report filed on the same day as AbbVie's motion, that they are concerned that AbbVie is attempting to use this issue as "a tactical sword in the testosterone bellwether process, rather than as a fact finding and discovery tool to gather information and collect the plaintiffs' medical records with authorizations." (In re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Product Liability Litigation – MDL No. 2545

In a move to reduce injuries and the spread of cancer after power morcellation hysterectomies and fibroid removal, the U.S. House passed a bipartisan bill that speeds up the government's process for approving drugs and medical devices, as well as improving the safety monitoring of medical devices that includes power morcellators, Southern Med Law reports. The new medical research legislation comes as Southern Med Law recently settled the first morcellator cancer lawsuits against morcellator makers, LiNA Medical APS, Kebomed AB & LiNA Medical US.

Federal judges are set to rule on whether Bayer can continue to be shielded from Essure product liability lawsuits that allege such side effects as pelvic pain, organ perforation and unintended pregnancies due to the birth control implant. Court records indicate that Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals has asked for a dismissal of five Essure birth control lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The birth control lawsuits contend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) premarket approval for Essure is invalid because Bayer failed to report adverse events caused by the contraceptive to the FDA, and Bayer's protection from product liability lawsuits over the birth control devices should be removed.

The attorneys at Southern Med Law have settled the first federally filed morcellator cancer lawsuit against LiNA Medical APS. Kebomed AG & LiNA Medical US, the makers of power morcellators. The lawsuit was filed in March 2014 in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Southern Med Law on behalf of Scott Burkhart, a Pennsylvania widower whose wife died of disseminated leiomyosarcoma in February 2013, which she developed after undergoing a power morcellator hysterectomy. The terms of the settlement are not being disclosed at the moment, but could prove positive for other power morcellator lawsuits that may be consolidated into a mult-idistrict litigation (MDL) in Kansas. Scott Burkart stated in this lawsuit that there was no evidence of disseminated cancer in his 53-year-old wife, Donna Burkhart, prior to having a robot-assisted hysterectomy in March 6, 2012. She was diagnosed with the aggressive uterine cancer just 9 days after having surgery. (No. 5:14-cv-1557)